


Adventures in Seventh Year

by love4writing



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:00:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25997899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/love4writing/pseuds/love4writing
Summary: The Marauders are about to start their final year at Hogwarts. Relationships are going to be forged. Others are going to be strained. It's going to be an interesting year. And the Dark Lord is growing stronger.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

September 1, 1977

“James!”  
A tall, black haired young man spun around in the crowd. He pushed his glasses up his nose afterwards to get an idea of who yelled at him, but he knew the voice instinctively.  
“Remus!”  
The thin, brown haired boy smiled as he made his way over to where James Potter stood, trying to look around for his other friends.  
“How was the summer, mate?”  
“Eh. It could have been better, I suppose. Seen Sirius?”  
Remus Lupin shook his head, flushing slightly. “Not yet.”  
James’ eyebrow went up as he looked at Remus for a moment before shrugging off the reaction. It was hot today.  
“There’s Remus, the Head Boy!” came a jovial shout.  
James and Remus turned to see Sirius walking towards them.  
“Uh, no,” Remus mumbled.  
Remus glanced up at James who turned red and turned around, as if looking for someone else. When he turned back to his two friends, the redness had passed. Remus knew exactly why James had gone red. The letter James had written him had explained it a brief three weeks earlier and Remus could tell that James’ enthusiasm had not grown.  
Remus had been confused too. Making James Head Boy was an unusual move. A previous prefect was typically the Head Boy, which was why Sirius had assumed it was Remus. Remus knew that he wouldn’t have been a good choice. Full moons made it complicated.  
“Pete should be along, yeah?” asked James, trying to be inconspicuous.  
“Yeah. Let’s find a spot,” replied Sirius with a shrug.  
“Uh, you guys go. I’ll catch up later,” said James with what he hoped was a voice that said he had other things to do but didn’t want to be asked about them.  
Remus grabbed Sirius by the arm and dragged him along to the train while James hurried off in the other direction.  
James knew that Sirius would find out sooner rather than later, but he still hadn’t figured out how to tell his best mate that he was an authority figure. Dumbledore had told James that he expected him to be a leader and demonstrate that to the other students. James had rarely felt like less of a leader and he wasn’t sure he wanted to be.  
Slowly he walked down the train toward the front. There was one good thing about all of this. Lily was bound to be the Head Girl. James had thought of Lily almost immediately after finishing his letter from Dumbledore. He hadn’t seen her yet though and he wondered if she knew.  
James found the front carriage for the Head Boy and Girl and the prefects of each house. As he walked into the larger carriage, he immediately felt uncomfortable. This was likely because of all the eyes that were on him. Six people had all turned and were now looking at him like he was in charge.  
Because he was, James reminded himself.  
“What are you doing here?”  
The one voice he’d been expecting. He took a deep breath before turning to the red haired woman at the front of the group.  
“Well, I am Head Boy,” he said as evenly as he could.  
“You are not,” she replied with a coldness in her voice.  
“Yes, he is.”  
The voice that replied to her was a familiar one but not one James expected to hear. Professor McGonagall never took the train to Hogwarts and James had no idea why she was here, but her answer made Lily Evans stop.  
“Professor,” started Lily as she stared at James with disbelief.  
“James Potter is Head Boy and I expect you two to act your age.” Her tone was finality. James knew it well.  
He found himself staring down at his shoes, avoiding Lily’s glare.  
Professor McGonagall handed James an envelope.  
“Passwords for Gryffindor,” she told him. James nodded. “I will see you both at school.”  
James nodded mutely as Professor McGonagall walked off. Lily snatched the envelope out of James’ hand.  
“I’ll handle this. You can go do whatever you do with your friends.”  
James stood there for a moment, wondering if she really wanted him to go. Eventually, the icy look in her eyes made him back down.  
“Ok, well, if you need anything, I’ll -” he started  
“Yes, I know. Go.”  
James walked out of the carriage and for a moment an odd feeling came over him. He almost wanted to cry but given the circumstances, he knew better than that. He walked down the train amid whispers out of different carriages. Clearly, the news had spread quickly. He was met with looks of disbelief and confusion. He tried to look uninterested and kept looking for Sirius, Remus, and Peter.  
Almost at the end of the train, he found them. Sirius sat in a seat; his arms crossed staring out of the window. Remus was watching Sirius, as if he had been trying to convince him of something. James had a good idea what that might be.  
“Why didn’t you tell us?!” came Peter’s excited cry.  
James looked next to Remus where Peter’s excitement was spilling out onto his face.  
“Sirius,” James started.  
“Just shut it.”  
James glanced back at Remus who shrugged as if to say, let him be and then got up and sat down next to Sirius. James sat down next to Peter, across from Sirius who still refused to look at him.  
Fifteen minutes later, Peter had asked about a thousand questions and Sirius had still refused to look at James. The same feeling that James had felt before overwhelmed him. Sirius had been his best mate for six years and now he was refusing to speak to him. James worked to funnel the frustration and sadness he felt into something else. Anything else. He ended up with anger.  
Lily didn’t think he could do this. Sirius was mad at him, for Merlin only knew what. The entire situation was ridiculous. James knew he could do this. He was completely capable of being in charge and setting a good example and he intended to show them all.  
With a huff, James stood up. “Right then. Maybe I’ll see you all at school.”  
Without another word, James walked out of the carriage and walked all the way back down the train. Lily was mid speech when he walked back in.  
“Can I help you?” she asked with the same ice in her voice.  
“Not at all. Only I am Head Boy and as such, I expect that I should be here.”  
James hardly recognized his own voice. He sat down without another word.  
“You can continue,” he said to Lily without looking at her.  
“Uh… right, where was I?” she said hesitantly. She looked down at her notes before continuing. James crossed his arms and sat there. He tried to look as uninterested as possible. He had no idea what he was going to do once he got to Hogwarts but right now, he was determined to look like he belonged here.


	2. Chapter 2

James walked quickly down the row of tables to find a seat at the Gryffindor table. He hadn’t waited for Sirius or Remus and he had hardly even looked at Lily as they got off the train. James had realized that he was furious. He was more than capable of being a leader. The Great Hall was getting more packed by the moment, but it wasn’t until Remus spoke that James realized he was there.  
“Mate, maybe talk to Sirius?”  
James made a non-committal grunting noise.  
“Come on James. Sirius is more upset that you didn’t tell him.”  
“Well look how he acted.”  
Remus rolled his eyes. James steadfastly stared at the teacher’s table at the front of the Great Hall. One by one, teachers were filling the seats. Professor Slughorn had just sat down next to Professor McGonagall’s still empty chair. James knew she was collecting the first years from the train for the sorting.   
Peter was still chattering away and James was trying very hard to ignore him. For the first time since James had been sorted, he paid very little attention to the ceremony. In every previous year, James had been entranced by the process watching to see where every new student went. This year, he hardly heard a word instead focusing on the ever-growing anger. The feast was wonderful as always but James found he could hardly eat a few bites. In fact, after taking about three bites of potato and a bite of roast he stood up and walked out of the Great Hall. He was acutely aware of the fact that there were a lot of people watching him but he did not care.  
Had he been more observant, he would have noticed his head of house follow him with her eyes as he walked out. He also might have noticed that she stood and went out a side door. But he didn’t notice.  
It was a surprise to James, therefore, when he got part way to the stairs and heard his name.  
“Mr. Potter. A word.”  
Knowing Professor McGonagall, he didn’t argue. He turned on his heel and followed her into the small side room next to the Great Hall. He could hear the noise from the feast.  
“Have a seat.”  
James dropped into a chair. Then there was silence. After a moment, he looked up to see Professor McGonagall watching him carefully and clearly waiting for him to say something.  
“Yes, Professor?”  
“Explain this behavior, please.”  
James sat and tried to explain it but found himself struggling. He was mad at his best mate because Sirius didn’t think he should be Head Boy. Although, Sirius hadn’t actually said that. And he was mad at Lily because she treated him like she always had.  
“I’m sorry Professor.”  
“There’s no need to be sorry Mr. Potter. Your behavior is concerning though. You don’t act like this. I was simply expecting an explanation.”  
“I don’t have one.”  
“Perhaps a good night’s sleep would do you some good?” she suggested.  
James nodded mutely.  
“Then I will see you in class tomorrow.”  
James took that as his dismissal, and he stood and walked back to the stairs. He traced the familiar path to his common room, which was silent because everyone was still at the feast.  
“Phoenix fire,” James said to the portrait which dutifully opened.  
He trudged up to his familiar dormitory and plopped onto the bed. He felt like his world was about to end. A quiet knock on the door made him startle and he opened the door to find a tray there. A note sat on the tray that simply said, “It never helps to go to bed on an empty stomach.”  
James didn’t recognize the handwriting, but he ate some of the food before deciding that he really was tired. He took off his glasses and rubbed his face. Just then he heard some noise from downstairs, so the feast must have ended. A few moments later the door opened and Remus walked in. James was quiet.   
Remus hesitated for a moment and then, “James, I don’t know what’s going on but you really need to talk to Sirius.”  
“Maybe I don’t want to. Besides, my supposed to be best mate apparently doesn’t think I’m fit to be Head Boy. You think that doesn’t hurt?”  
“I get it but I don’t think that he doesn’t support you. He was surprised and anyway you two are the ones in the most trouble. How’s he supposed to feel when he realized his partner was no longer available for mischief?”  
“I –,” James started but then Sirius walked in.  
The two regarded each other, with James staring longer when Sirius finally looked down.  
“Listen mate, about what I said on the train,” Sirius began.  
“Never mind,” interrupted James, “I guess we both acted like idiots.”  
Sirius rubbed the back of his head and hesitated. “Peter is annoying the hell out of me too.”  
James laughed. As he glanced away from Sirius, he noticed Remus staring at Sirius with the same look he’d had at the train station that morning. Sirius didn’t seem to notice the look and walked over to his trunk, flinging it open. Remus followed Sirius with his eyes and then noticed James’ watchful expression. Abruptly, Remus sat down on his bed and looked out the window.  
“So how’d Lily take it?” asked Peter as he walked into the room.  
“Um, about as well as Sirius,” said James quietly.  
“Oh.” Peter was suddenly silent as he noticed the way James was watching Remus and Sirius who had also noticed that something was going on.  
“Anyway, class bright and early, right?” said James, suddenly standing up and walking into the bathroom the boys shared. He closed the door behind him and let out a sigh. He knew the look Remus had because he had the same one when it came to Lily. James shook his head and wondered if Sirius knew. Then he realized that tomorrow he still had to deal with Lily. Deciding not to think about it anymore today, James brushed his teeth and changed into pajamas before heading back into the boy’s dorm room. Remus had already fallen asleep or didn’t want to talk and was pretending to sleep. James was thoroughly exhausted and soon feel asleep too.

September 2  
James and Sirius headed to breakfast together. Transfiguration NEWT level was first thing in the morning and neither one wanted to be late. James was hoping that Professor McGonagall had forgotten about the previous evening. As he and Sirius walked into the classroom, he was met with a surprise he hadn’t anticipated.  
“As you are Head Boy, you have certain responsibilities. I’ve made a chart.”   
Lily thrust a piece of paper into his hands.  
“I expect you to do your share of the work, Potter.”  
She spun around and sat down next to Marlene near the front of the classroom. James and Sirius headed for the seat next to the door at the back.  
“At least she’s speaking to you, mate. Good sign, right?”  
James shook his head.  
“You haven’t seen this schedule.”  
Sirius peered over at the paper James was looking at.  
“Wow, patrolling at night? Good way to set up some pranks.”  
“I expect not, Mr. Black,” came Professor McGonagall’s voice.  
“Oh, uh, just kidding Professor,” Sirius said quickly as he reached for his book.   
James groaned and put his head on the desk. “Great, now first thing that goes wrong will be on me.”  
“Open your books, please. We will begin with Conjuring spells.”  
The rest of class passed quickly as the boys took notes on the theory of making things appear. After class, the two headed back to their dorm to start working on the three feet of parchment McGonagall requested they do research on and wait for Remus and Peter to get back. Remus had NEWT level Arithmancy an hour after their Transfiguration class and Peter had Divination. James stared at his schedule of classes wondering how he was going to manage everything. In addition to Transfiguration, he had Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Herbology. He was beginning to think he was in a little too deep, especially as he knew that Potions would be a challenge. Plus, Quidditch practice and now he had Lily’s schedule of checking the halls. Two hours later, James was in the middle of a large book on conjuring materials and had only managed six inches of parchment. Remus walked into the room and sighed.   
“That was a lot of work.”  
“You’re telling me,” replied James looking up.   
Sirius had passed out into his textbook as he worked to read some of the material that was due by Thursday.  
“That exciting?” asked Remus as he looked over at the snoring Sirius.  
“Uh, yeah,” replied James. He looked carefully at Sirius and then back at Remus. Remus was very pointedly going through his bag.  
“Hey Remus,” James started.  
Just then Peter slammed the dormitory door open followed by a group of fifth and sixth year students who had just left Herbology. Peter had clearly been the target of a jinx, as he had something all over his face although James wasn’t sure what.  
“What happened?” asked Sirius sitting up, startled.  
“He hit him from behind,” said a fifth year girl excitedly.   
“Who?” asked James quickly, although he had a feeling he knew the answer already.  
“Snape,” replied Jack Kingly, a sixth year.  
Remus grabbed Peter by the elbow and turned to James, “We’ll go to the hospital wing.”  
James looked at Sirius.   
“What are you going to do?” Sirius asked him quietly.  
James shook his head, “Nothing right now. It’ll be too obvious.”  
Sirius nodded.  
James meanwhile was starting to wonder if he could do anything to Snape without being questioned for it.   
“Let’s go eat,” said James with a sigh.  
It was halfway through lunch when Remus showed up, without Peter.  
“They’re working on it,” he said shrugging, answering the unasked question.   
Immediately after lunch, the three headed to Herbology and then DADA. James at least felt like he could handle himself in DADA, although he wasn’t sure about the new teacher.  
It wasn’t until after dinner that he sat down with Lily’s schedule to see when he could put Quidditch practices in. He also needed to have try-outs and time was short. Their first game was in a month and James wanted to practice with his new players. Four hours later, he finally had a workable schedule that had everything on it, including time for the obscene amounts of homework that he would have. It left almost no time for anything else though, which was frustrating. James had been thinking about asking Marlene to go to Hogsmeade with him. Mostly just because it would annoy Lily if he was honest but he decided that there was no point. He didn’t really want to go with Marlene anyway and he was pretty sure that she was interested in a guy from Ravenclaw anyway. Maybe, James thought, the year would pass by without girls in his life.


	3. Chapter 3

The next few weeks passed without much incidence. James spent his time between homework and Quidditch. Once he was late for one of Lily’s scheduled days and she yelled at him for thirty minutes as they patrolled the halls. James vowed to never be late again, after apologizing profusely. It seemed that Lily would never take him seriously and he had given up any hope of her noticing him as anything but a problem.   
Remus had taken up the spare time in James’ brain, however. It had become increasingly obvious to James that Remus had a huge crush on Sirius. Whether Sirius was aware of this or not, James didn’t know. Personally, James didn’t see how Sirius could not know given the amount of time that Remus spent with them, but Sirius was oblivious. Remus’ first full moon was the second week of school and it was hard, but the group rallied around him. Now, a good week afterwards, James really felt like he needed to ask Remus what was going on. He needed to do it when Sirius was busy though.   
That opportunity finally arose on a night that James and Lily were supposed to patrol the halls. Lily didn’t feel well and so James asked Remus to come along with him. The two wandered through the castle, keeping an eye on the students who were headed for their dorms and chatted.  
“It must be getting late,” said Remus with a yawn.  
“Almost ten, I think,” replied James. “Remus, I have to ask you a question.”  
“No, I don’t think Lily will go out with you.”  
“Haha. I know that.”  
Remus grinned at him, “She might change her mind someday.”  
“Doubtful. But it’s not about that.”  
“Ok. What’s up?” Remus looked at him, concern on his face.  
“It’s about Sirius.”  
Remus looked away from James quickly. “What about him?”  
James watched carefully. Remus was purposefully staring at a portrait in the hallway.  
“Are you two a couple?” James asked quietly.  
“No!” Remus said quickly. James didn’t miss the color that flooded Remus’ cheeks.  
“But you want to be, don’t you?” he asked hesitantly. He was still quiet, hoping he sounded more curious than anything.  
Remus didn’t say anything but James got the distinct impression that he was crying.  
“Does he know?” James asked.  
Remus shook his head. “He’d never.”  
James paused for a moment. “I don’t think that’s true.”  
Remus turned towards James, partially hidden by the shadows in the hall so it was hard for James to see his face.  
“Why do you think that?” Remus’ voice shook.  
“Well, he’s got all these Muggle magazines and some of them have girls in them but others have guys in them and I just think he isn’t picky about it, is all.”  
“You can’t tell him James.”  
“I’d never, Remus. I swear.”  
Remus looked at James with relief.   
“But I think you should tell him.”  
James didn’t say anything else about Sirius that night. The two boys roamed the halls in silence until midnight when they made their way back to the Gryffindor common room. It was outside the portrait door that Remus turned to James.  
“You really shouldn’t give up on Lily, you know. Phoenix fire.”  
Remus walked in the boy’s dormitory leaving James to stand there outside the door, wondering what his friend meant just then.  
Three days later, James woke up early, despite it being Saturday. That was because it was Quidditch day and he was full of nervous excitement. He headed to breakfast early and was ready to get his team pumped up. Usually breakfast was quiet this early, so James was surprised to see Remus and Lily sitting there when he got to the Great Hall.  
“Morning mate!” said Remus cheerily.   
James grinned. “It’s going to be a good one. Hufflepuff is done for.”  
Remus laughed.  
James proceeded to eat some eggs and bacon while the other two sat and watched him. James felt his curiosity growing because Lily hadn’t spoken to him since before she got sick and he did Head Boy patrol with Remus.   
“You did a great job the other night, you know,” Lily said evenly as James finished his eggs.  
“Uh. Thanks?”  
“I mean it. You’ve been doing a good job. It’s a lot with Quidditch and classes.”  
“I don’t know if I should be insulted or not,” replied James.  
“You’re right. I haven’t been fair to you.”  
James stared.   
“Anyway,” said Remus standing up, “Good luck today!”  
James grinned at his friend and glanced back at Lily.  
“I’ll see you at the post game celebration,” she said with a smile.  
With a nod, James headed down to the Quidditch pitch to wait for his team. Meanwhile he got on his broom and spent some time doing laps. Lily’s behavior was unusual but at least she’d been polite. Right now, he had to focus on the game.  
An hour later, James was in his element directing his team and swooping in and out of the Hufflepuff players passing the Quaffle to his teammates. To his surprise, Hufflepuff put up a good fight and the game took longer than James anticipated. It was well after lunch when the Gryffindor Seeker, Amos Lewis, caught the Snitch. The two teams shook hands, and everyone headed up to the castle for some dinner. James opted to head back to his room because he badly needed a shower. An hour later and smelling better, James headed down to the common room to find the post game celebration in full swing. James loved the attention and managed to set off some small fireworks with his wand, resulting in cheers from the excited Gryffindors.   
Lily was nowhere to be seen and James figured that she wasn’t interested. He knew she’d gone to the game because he’d seen her a couple of times in the stands with everyone. He shrugged it off and let a couple of fifth year girls flirt with him. He wasn’t interested in either one of them but they seemed to love having his attention and he gladly gave it. He noticed Peter sitting with a sixth year girl, snogging on the couch. James thought her name was Anna but he wasn’t positive. He chuckled before looking at the clock and realizing that it was nearly midnight and he was wiped out.   
He said goodnight to the two fifth year girls who looked very disappointed and marched up the stairs to his dorm. He yawned as he opened the door.  
In front of him were two of his best friends, mid-kiss.   
James’ moth dropped open and Sirius jumped back from Remus.  
“Sorry,” muttered James who quickly closed the door and headed back down the stairs. He walked quickly through the common room, which was still full and out the door. He started walking without any idea of where he was going.   
Truthfully, he didn’t care if Remus and Sirius were going to be kissing. He was more sad about the idea that they’d likely want more time alone and James wasn’t as excited about spending loads of time with Peter.  
It was a few moments later when Sirius caught up with him.  
“James.”  
He stopped and ran his hand through his hair causing it to stand up wildly on his head.  
“Sirius, mate, it’s fine. I just didn’t know that you guys were… well, you know.” James gestured blankly back toward the common room unsure of what to call what his friends were doing.  
“Listen, it’s nothing serious. Honest.”  
James turned a looked at Sirius, slightly annoyed.  
“Maybe you should tell Remus that?”  
Sirius blushed. “I mean, maybe it’s a little serious?”  
“I mean it Sirius,” James said sternly, “Don’t play with Remus like he doesn’t matter.”  
“He does matter,” Sirius insisted.  
James nodded. “He’d better.”  
Sirius stopped and stared at the floor. James could tell he wanted to say something so he waited quietly.  
Finally, “Look James, I care about him. I just don’t know about us being, you know, together.”  
“I’m not going to tell anyone,” said James quietly.  
“It’s more Peter,” said Sirius.  
James sighed and looked out the window in the hall. A half moon peered back at him and James thought about what Sirius was saying. Peter was the most likely to be upset by this.  
“We’ll just keep it between us,” James said finally.  
Sirius let out a breath.   
“Maybe you shouldn’t snog in the middle of the room though, eh,” said James cheekily.  
Sirius blushed a deeper red before nodding. “Yeah.”  
The two men walked slowly back to their common room without saying anything. The common room was almost empty now. Peter was still on the couch with the sixth year girl. James and Sirius headed up the stairs where Remus sat on his bed, waiting.  
“Uh, I’m going to bed,” said James quietly. He pulled the curtain around his bed and heard both Sirius and Remus pull the curtains around their beds. He could hear quiet whispers after that and he knew that his two friends were talking. James rolled over and slept.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am currently writing what would be Chapter 11 (although, some of them are shorter than others). I have been considering changing the rating to explicit to explore the relationship between J and L and R and S further. If anyone has comments or thoughts on that, I'm open to hearing them. Thanks to anyone reading and hopefully, you're enjoying things from James' POV.

October  
Halloween was coming and James could feel it in the cooler air. It was almost time for the second Hogsmeade trip and as James had skipped the first, he was determined to go on the next. He and Remus sat under a tree near the lake enjoying the warmth of the early October day.   
“Have you finished the Defense assignment?” James asked Remus as he read through the notes he took from their last Potions class.  
“Not yet,” admited Remus. “I’ll work on it tonight.”  
“So, busy with Sirius?” teased James.  
Remus blushed and threw a stray bit of parchment at James who laughed. James’ laughter ended abruptly when he noticed Snape walking towards them.   
“Can I help you,” asked James coldly when Snape was near enough.  
“I was wondering if your friend had been out to his home recently?” sneered Snape.   
“You know full well that he has,” snapped James, “Have you got a question or are you just here to be a prat?”  
Snape sneered. “I was wondering if he was planning on bringing his friend Sirius along.”  
Remus glanced over at James who held a stone face.  
“I don’t know what you mean, Snivelly. Maybe you should go back to your little gang over there and plan who to torture next,” snapped James.  
Snape walked off back to his group of friends and James turned back to Remus.  
“Do you think he knows?” asked Remus anxiously.  
“No. He’s just being an arse.”  
Remus absently played with his quill and looked worried. Snape sat down with his friends a little ways away just as Sirius walked down to where his two friends sat.  
“Who’s being an arse?” asked Sirius as he sat down.  
“Snape,” muttered James.   
“What else is new?” asked Sirius, who looked over at Remus and grinned.   
Remus blushed at Sirius’ look and James shook his head at them.  
“You two need to be more careful,” James mumbled under his breath.  
“I am careful,” insisted Remus.  
“True,” said Sirius, “we’ve only been caught by you.”  
James sighed, “Where’s Peter anyway?”  
Remus shrugged as he went back to the Potions notes he was going over with James. Now with Sirius there, the three of them might make some progress. Of course, Peter could use the help too, if he could be found.  
“Might be with that sixth year that he’s been with recently,” pointed out Sirius.   
“So, James is the only one of us single?” asked Remus in amazement.  
James made a face at Remus. “So? Who needs women?”  
“Whoa,” said Sirius, “What inspired that change?”  
James shrugged. “I’m hungry. Let’s go eat. Besides it’s getting cold”  
Remus looked at Sirius, who shrugged and the three got up to head into the castle.  
Several hours later, James sat at a table in the common room alone. Remus and Sirius had gone to the library to work and Peter remained attached to his sixth year girl, who James had learned was named Hannah. The Potions assignment was being difficult, and he was frustrated with it.  
“Ugh!” he said to no one in particular as someone sat down next to him. He looked up and was surprised to find himself looking at Lily.  
“Problem?” she asked.  
“Yeah, I can’t figure this out,” said James pointing at the paper.  
Lily looked down at it and considered for a moment.  
“I can help with it,” she said after a moment.  
James stared at her as though she was some kind of alien.  
“What?” she asked as he stared.  
“Is Lily Evans being nice to me?”  
“Do you want help or not Potter?”  
“Yeah,” admitted James.  
Lily grabbed his Potions book and flipped to a page. James listened as she walked him through the steps of the potion and how to make it as effective as possible. After an hour of Lily’s patient tutoring, James realized that he was almost done.  
“I can finish it now. Thanks.” He smiled at her.  
“You’re welcome. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you thank anyone before.”  
“I do, all the time,” James replied, exasperated.  
“I’m just saying I’ve never heard it before,” she said calmly.  
“Well, how much time have you spent with me before now?”  
Lily pondered this for several moments.  
“You’re right. I’m sorry about that. You just used to be such a prat.”  
“I’m not now?” asked James confusedly.  
“Well, maybe.”  
James felt himself blush. “I try not to be.”  
“You have a lot of confidence, James. It comes off as obnoxious a lot of the time.”  
He looked down at the paper in front of him. Nobody had ever said that to him before. He knew he had an abundance of confidence.  
“Not with everything,” he said finally.  
“Surely not! The great James Potter can do anything,” teased Lily.  
“Stop,” said James as he blushed more.  
“It’s late,” said Lily looking around the common room.  
Sure enough, as James looked up, it was nearly eleven.  
“Did Remus and Sirius come back yet?” he asked her.  
“Probably not. I imagine Remus will have dragged Sirius into an empty classroom to snog him.”  
James stared at Lily for a moment.  
“What?” she asked. “Remus talks to people besides you, you know.”  
“Yeah, I guess I didn’t think he told anyone else about Sirius.”  
“Well, I kind of dragged it out of him,” admitted Lily.  
James nodded as Lily stood up.  
“Night James,” said Lily as she started to walk to the girls' dormitory.  
James suddenly stood up, feeling more hopeful than he had in a long time.  
“Hey Lily, wait!”  
She stopped at the foot of the stairs and turned toward him.  
James walked across the room.  
“Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?” He held his breath as he waited.  
Lily smiled at him. “I’d love to James.” She stood up on her toes and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before turning and heading up the stairs.   
James watched her go before putting his hand on his cheek where she had just kissed him. He stood there for a moment, amazed at what had just happened. He walked over to the table and picked up all the work he had just done and headed up the stairs to his bed.  
Hogsmeade weekend dawned warm and sunny two days later. James hadn’t mentioned his date to anyone and now he realized that he’d have to tell them. He got up and went through his clothes trying to decide on what to wear. He finally settled on one of his favorite sweaters and a comfortable pair of jeans. He headed into the bathroom where he spent longer than normal, shaving and making sure that his hair was flat as possible. When he came out, Remus was just waking up and smiled as he saw James already dressed and cleaned up.  
“Have a good trip,” Remus mumbled sleepily.  
“You going?” asked James quietly.  
“Nope,” replied Remus. “You’re going with Lily and Peter’s going with Hannah so I’m going to get some work done.” Remus smiled as he said it.  
James grinned at his friend. “And help Sirius with his work, right?”  
“Maybe a bit,” said Remus cheekily.  
“Have a good day,” James told him as he left the boys’ room. It never occurred to James to ask how Remus knew about Lily.


	5. Chapter 5

Hogsmeade  
James walked down the stairs and was happy to see Lily sitting in one of the chairs, waiting. It was early enough that the common room was mostly empty with only a few first years up working on homework. James walked over to Lily and smiled at her. She smiled back and for the first time, James felt that smile extend through her whole face. Suddenly, there were butterflies in his stomach.  
“Did you eat breakfast yet,” he asked her.  
“I was waiting for you first,” she replied easily.  
James motioned for the door and the two walked down to the Great Hall to eat before heading to Hogsmeade. James tried to eat his normal breakfast but he found himself taking small bites and mostly staring at Lily who sat next to him.  
“Are you alright?” she asked him, looking at his plate. “You usually eat way more than that.”  
“Yeah, fine,” replied James although he honestly was starting to feel like he might throw up.  
“Are you done?” he asked glancing down at her half-eaten pancake.  
“Yeah.”  
James nodded and the two stood up with Lily leading the way to the entrance of the castle. James followed a step behind her and looked at the beautiful day outside. He was walking to Hogsmeade with Lily on this beautiful day. He grinned as he walked past Professor McGonagall who nodded as she watched the two pass by. They walked in silence and were almost to the village when Lily turned to James.  
“Where do you want to go?”  
“Oh, um, well Zonko’s, I guess, just to see if they have anything new. Then maybe Honeyduke’s? Where do you want to go?”  
“Honeyduke’s for sure,” replied Lily, “and then maybe we can get some lunch?”  
James nodded and the two walked into Zonko’s. James wandered through the shop looking at different things. Every once in awhile Lily would laugh at something she saw, which James took as a good sign. After several minutes, James shrugged.  
“Nothing much new. Let’s go to Honeyduke’s.”  
In truth, James wanted to go where Lily was interested in being. It was true that there wasn’t much new at Zonko’s but he just didn’t want to spend much time there.   
Lily started talking about classes, and James spent some time griping about the amount of work that Professor McGonagall set for Transfiguration.  
“I mean, I know it’s important but, it takes forever,” he complained.  
Lily giggled, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you complain about Transfiguration before. It’s always Potions.”  
“Uuggghh,” replied James, “I don’t want to think about Slughorn!”  
“Why did you take it then?” asked Lily curiously.  
James turned slightly red.  
“Well, I’ve been hoping to become an Auror,” he finally said.  
Lily stopped in her tracks and stared at James.  
“Really?”  
James who had taken a couple of steps before he realized she had stopped, turned around.  
“Yeah. Why?”  
“I dunno,” said Lily slowly, “I guess it never seemed like you.”  
“Are you kidding?” replied James, suddenly agitated. “With the Dark Lord getting stronger every day, we need as many people as possible in the fight!”  
Lily stared at him again before finally saying, “I had no idea you were that passionate about it, James.”  
“Well, you never asked,” he pointed out. “I’ve just always been a prat to you. James Potter, no ambition, no interests except Quidditch and troublemaking with his mates.”  
“That’s not true,” Lily answered. “I’ve always thought you were a great friend to Remus. And he doesn’t have many of those.”  
They both understood the implication of her words.  
“Remus is a great guy.”  
“So are you James. You’re just… arrogant. And a bully, sometimes.”  
“I’m not arrogant,” James replied quickly.  
“You are,” Lily told him, “but I don’t think you realize it.”  
“And I try not to bully anyone anymore.”  
“Except Severus.”  
James paused, unsure of what to say. He had been avoiding Snape this year, purposefully. In fact, aside from Peter’s incident and the other day when Snape came to find him and Remus, James had hardly realized Snape was there. He knew Snape was in several of his classes but he didn’t interact with him if he didn’t have to.  
“And, you’ve been better this year,” Lily finally said.  
The two walked into Honeyduke’s and spent a good hour wandering through the shop. Afterward, Lily went to a small store to get some more quills, and then the two decided that the Three Broomsticks would be a good spot for lunch. They managed to find a small table set away from the many chattering voices of their classmates. James realized he was starved, so the soup he got for lunch was a welcome meal. He and Lily ate in silence but they also spent most of the meal looking at each other, as though they were just seeing each other for the first time.   
James for his part had allowed his flame for Lily to come back full force. He thought that may be dangerous because there was still a chance she’d walk away but he couldn’t help it.  
Lily felt like she had never really seen James Potter before. The passion he had spoken with had surprised her but she realized he was right. She had mostly considered James to be an arrogant prat with no real ambition. He did have ambition. It’s why he was still here at school. And he honestly was very smart.   
After they finished eating, the walked through the village, wandering down little streets, eventually coming to the edge of the lake where they had a view of the castle. They sat down on the shore.  
James wondered what Sirius and Remus were doing right now, though he had a good idea. He hadn’t seen Peter all day so he hoped that he had gone to Hogsmeade.   
“What are you thinking?”  
James startled. He hadn’t realized he had been so lost in his thoughts.  
“Not much.”  
He turned to look at Lily. Her eyes were the most beautiful green color he could ever imagine. It was that moment he realized that he was going to fall in love with her. He swallowed as he stared into her eyes and leaned a little closer. He watched her eyes close, waiting.  
He closed the distance between them, his lips on hers, and his heart exploded. He couldn’t tell you how long the kiss lasted. He could smell her shampoo, something fruity, and she was close enough that he could feel her next to him.   
When the kiss ended, James felt his heart beating.   
“It’s getting late,” Lily whispered.  
James nodded, glancing at the sun that was starting to drop towards the lake.  
“I’ll walk you back,” he told her.   
The two got up from the ground, holding hands and made their way back to the castle. They must have been some of the last students because Argus Filch stood at the entry way with a list, checking off names. They walked back into the castle, up to the stairs before Lily finally turned to James.  
“I have to go meet Marlene. We need to finish some homework.”  
James nodded, not wanting to let go of her hand at all.  
“Thank you, James. I had a lovely day.” She reached up and gave him another soft kiss on his lips.  
Several students seemed to notice because he heard a couple of whistles. He turned around and glared at the two Ravenclaw students who looked like third years. They scurried into the Great Hall and James watched Lily head up the stairs towards the library.


	6. Chapter 6

James wandered back to the common room, not quite sure what had happened. Peter sat on the couch, alone and looking sullen. James realized it had been days since he’d really talked to Peter.  
“Hey Pete,” he sat next to him, “What’s up?”  
“Nothing,” came the short reply.  
James looked at him feeling certain that nothing was as far from true as it could be. Peter seemed to be determined to not talk though, so after several minutes, James shrugged and headed up the stairs to their room. He hesitated for a minute, his hand at the door knob, wondering if he should knock.  
Deciding that Remus and Sirius were smarter than that, James opened the door to find his two friends sitting on the floor with their DADA notes in front of them. Remus’ hair looked much messier than normal and he thought that Sirius kept glancing over at Remus as if he wanted to say something but both men looked up as James walked in.  
“Hi,” said Remus cheerfully. “How’d it go?”  
James grinned.  
“I’d say well, given the face,” joked Sirius.  
“Right?” Remus said. “Earth to James.”  
James turned to them both and took a breath before speaking.  
“I am done for.”  
“Meaning?” asked Sirius.  
“I can never kiss anyone else ever again. It would never be the same,” James said  
“Gross,” replied Sirius.  
“Like you can talk,” James said throwing a pillow at Sirius.  
“Well, I’m not professing never-ending love.”  
“Did I say I love her?” James asked.  
“You don’t have to mate,” said Remus with a grin. “It’s written on your face.”  
James felt himself blush.  
“There’s the answer,” laughed Sirius.   
James promptly changed the subject. “What’s wrong with Pete?”  
“I’m pretty sure his date dumped him,” replied Sirius.  
“I thought that was going well,” Remus said curiously.  
“So did I,” James said, looking over at Sirius.  
“I dunno, I only know that Marlene said Hannah got mad at Pete when he met up with my cousin at Hogsmeade,” said Sirius with an odd tone in his voice.  
“Your cousin?” Remus’ voice had a note of concern in it.  
“Yeah, Narcissa,” Sirius explained. “I don’t know why Pete would want to meet up with Narcissa, especially as she just announced she’s marrying Lucius Malfoy.”  
James and Remus stared at Sirius. Sirius had spent the last part of the summer in his new apartment, thanks to the money left to him by his Uncle Alphard who died earlier that spring. As a result, James had not spent much of the summer with Sirius and he hadn’t been keeping up with the pureblood news that Sirius always seemed to know. So the news that Lucius Malfoy was marrying Narcissa Black was a surprise to them. Especially given what they knew about Lucius Malfoy.  
“Is she joining up to?” asked James.  
“Dunno,” answered Sirius. “I would like to know why Pete wants to talk to her though.”  
“Well he’s in the common room,” said James with some anger. “Let’s go.”  
James marched back down the stairs into the common room. It was rare that he got angry but right now, he was furious with his friend. Remus and Sirius followed James closely.  
“Well, Pete, are you going to move into Slytherin now?” asked James angrily.  
This outburst got the attention of the now very full common room, including Lily who approached the group of four men but kept her distance.  
“What do you care?” Peter snapped back. “It’s not like you’ve even paid any attention to me.”  
“Pardon me for thinking you’d like time alone with your girlfriend,” James shouted back.  
“I’m not his girlfriend,” snapped Hannah from across the room.  
“Whatever,” James snarled back. He turned back to Peter. “So what business do you have with Lucius? Chummy with him now?”  
“James.” Remus’s voice was quiet but James turned him and silenced him with a look.  
Peter said nothing, refusing to look at the three men that he had referred to as his best friends up until recently.  
“Fine,” said James with venom in his voice. “You want to be part of Snape’s gang, go for it. Have fun. Just know that I have no interest in being friends with someone that cowardly.”  
With that, James walked out of the common room, without looking backward once. Both Remus and Lily followed him out of the portrait hole and caught up with him. James had sat down in a small alcove down the hall from the portrait entrance.  
“I don’t want to hear excuses. Peter should know better than to hang around with those creeps.”  
Remus sat down next to James on the floor.   
“James, shouting at Pete isn’t going to help. Something’s going on with him although he won’t tell anyone what.”  
“Something has been off with Peter since the beginning of the year. Why doesn’t he have more than three classes?” asked Lily, looking at Remus.  
Remus stared back at Lily. “Three classes? He told us he’s got five.”  
“Well, I don’t know what they are but he’s not in Transfiguration or Potions or Defense. I know he has Divination and Muggle Studies but what else?”  
“Herbology,” James said.  
There was silence.   
Remus finally spoke, “I guess I thought he was in Potions with you two and I don’t know, maybe something else. Isn’t he in Charms?”  
The three looked at each other and James finally shook his head. “He’s never gone if he is.”  
“He had more classes last year. What happened?” Lily asked.  
James and Remus looked at each other. In thinking about it, Peter had been very quiet about his grades at the end of sixth year. While James had been cheering about his E in DADA and Remus had been happy to get an A in Arithmancy, there had been no comments from Peter about any of his grades.  
“I don’t know,” Remus said slowly, “he never said.”  
“Ouch,” muttered James.  
Remus stood up. “I have to go finish that homework.”  
James looked up at him. “I’ll be back in a minute.” He looked sad.  
Lily sat down next to James on the floor. “It’s ok. Peter never said anything about struggling, so how could you know?”  
“He’s supposed to be one of my best friends and I can’t tell you how he did.”  
“Does that matter? You can still go talk to him.”  
James looked at Lily, who smiled. James leaned over and gave her a kiss before standing up to head to the boys room.   
The common room stared as James walked back through but he didn’t flinch. He marched up the stairs, where he could hear Sirius talking.  
“Pete, Lucius Malfoy is not a good guy.”  
“No,” said James walking into the room, “he’s not. He never was.”  
“Did Lily make you see reason, James,” Peter snarled as James walked in.  
“Yeah, actually she did,” said James with no embarrassment. “You want to explain why you’re here but not taking any classes?”  
“I am taking classes.”  
“Uh huh. Which ones?”  
Sirius stared at James confused. Remus stared at the floor, waiting.  
“Divination,” started Peter.  
“Herbology,” said Sirius who turned to look at Peter.  
“Is that it?” asked Remus finally.  
Peter dropped his gaze to the floor. “Yeah, that’s it.”  
“Pete, what the heck?” James asked exasperatedly. “Why didn’t you ask for help?”  
The smaller man shrugged.   
“Pete, we would have helped you.” Sirius looked at Peter with concern. “What are you going to do after Hogwarts?”  
“I don’t know,” Peter snapped back. “Unlike you I’m not rich, so I’ll have to find some kind of job.”  
“I’m not rich,” Remus said quietly.  
James glanced back at Remus, feeling the pain in his friend’s voice. Both of them. He also had no idea what to do to help either of them.  
Sirius frowned. “There are jobs that don’t require Hogwarts. Maybe you should try for something like that?”  
“While you and James go save the world?” Peter crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Sirius.  
“No, I just meant – “ Sirius started.  
“Yeah, I know,” Peter growled back. “Poor Peter, not smart enough to be an Auror.”  
Sirius just stared.  
James looked around the room and sat down in front of the door. “Alright, let’s back up. First of all, I’m the only one trying to be an Auror, unless Sirius has suddenly changed his mind. Second of all, let’s not forget the position that Remus is in. Thirdly, Pete, if you had asked for help, you might not be in this position.”  
“Oh and you’re gonna help me get through Auror training too?”  
“If I could, yes.”  
Peter stared at James.  
“Pete, I didn’t even know you were interested in that. Why didn’t you ever say anything?”  
Peter sat down on the floor in front of his bed. “I never thought I could do it. And I was right too.”  
“I never thought I could come to Hogwarts, but here I am,” said Remus. “James is right. You never asked us for help. And we could have helped.”  
“So,” said James, “let’s figure this out”


	7. Chapter 7

Halloween  
James had made some pleas to Professor McGonagall over the days following the boys’ discussion. While Peter couldn’t be in all of the classes he needed to be an Auror, Professor McGonagall agreed to let Peter take Transfiguration with the goal of improving as well as telling James that she would speak with Professor Flitwick about letting Peter start Charms late. By Halloween, Peter was taking both courses and he was definitely struggling but between James and Remus they got him caught up. Sirius spent the time working on homework and getting some tutoring on his own. He wasn’t bad at magic but he was often a bad student. That meant that he usually turned in homework late and sometimes struggled with tests. Not enough to be kicked out of school but he was the student that teachers referred to as not meeting potential.   
As a result, the day of Halloween saw the boys sitting in the common room working on various assignments.   
James was busy thinking about that night. He was hoping to get Lily to help him with some homework in the office that the Head Boy and Girl used for meetings. Nobody else would be there and James was more hoping for some quality snogging than homework.   
“I am never going to finish this,” groaned Sirius as he dropped his quill.  
James looked over to see a sheet of parchment with about six inches written. It looked to be the last assignment that Professor McGonagall had set them.  
“Oy mate, you’re going to have to do more than that. She wanted two feet.”  
“I know! That’s why it’ll never be done.”  
“Write bigger,” Remus suggested as he flipped through his Arithmancy book.  
“This is McGonagall we’re talking about here, not Sprout,” complained Sirius.  
James shrugged and looked over his Potions assignment again.   
“Hey James,’ Sirius began.  
“Nope. You cannot copy mine. I have no desire for a McGonagall lecture or a detention.”  
Sirius sighed and pulled the book he was reading towards him again.   
James glanced over towards where Peter was working on some remedial Charms work. Peter was silently chewing on the end of his quill as he read from James’ book.  
“You ok Pete?” James asked quietly.  
Peter glanced up and nodded. He stopped for a moment and looked at the end of his quill. Then he sighed.  
“Can you explain this?” Peter asked James.  
James pulled the book toward him and skimmed through what Peter had been reading.  
“You should be able to do that one Pete. It’s related to the Transfiguration.”  
Peter frowned and Remus glanced up to see what they were talking about.  
“Here, look.”   
James picked up his wand and closed his eyes for a moment before pointing clearly across the room and said “Expecto Patronum!”  
A glimmering stag burst from the end of his wand and walked across the room towards James. It stopped behind Remus and nudged his head, as if in recognition, before coming back to James and bowing its head down and vanishing.  
“Great,” Peter muttered, “My Patronus is a rat.”  
Sirius chuckled, “I wonder what Remus’ is.”  
Remus shot Sirius a dirty look before looking back at Peter.  
“What’s wrong with a rat?”  
“Nothing, I guess. It’s just not terribly helpful.”  
“It is in its own way,” James pointed out.  
“So, uh, what were you thinking of just then?” asked Sirius slyly.  
“None of your business, nosy,” replied James.  
Remus chuckled as he flipped another page. “I can guess what James was thinking about.”  
“And I could guess what you’d be thinking of,” James shot back,  
Remus blushed but said nothing else.  
James for his part had heard his two friends at night on several occasions. They had the sense of mind to be as quiet as possible but sometimes things got louder and James had taken to casting Muffliato on them so he didn’t have to hear.  
“Let’s get some dinner,” said Peter closing the book in front of him.  
James agreed by standing up and tucking his paper into the book he was working out of. The four boys headed downstairs to dinner. James was hoping Lily might be there. It had been four days since he had really seen Lily, with the exception of classes. That was because of the obscene amount of work that their professors had put on them. They also had started reminding them that their NEWT level exams would take place at the end of the year. James tried not to think about any of it too hard because he generally felt nauseated when he did. Lily had taken to spending her afternoons and free periods in the library. James would go to the library if he needed books but he didn’t like the atmosphere and wouldn’t stay longer than necessary.   
Lily, Marlene, and Elaine were sitting at the table eating when the boys got there. James was greeted by a smile from Lily when she looked up and his heart swelled.   
“Ready to do corridors tonight?” Lily asked lightly.  
“Sure, how hard can it be on Halloween?” James asked.   
Remus almost choked on his soup.  
“You’ll see,” Lily said with a smile.  
Three hours later, James was irritated to no end. It seemed like students from every house were bent on breaking curfew tonight. James had just returned three third year Ravenclaws to their common room before finding Lily, who was reprimanding two first year Gryffindors.   
“Does anybody sleep tonight?” grumbled James.  
“Well, when did you go to sleep on Halloween?” asked Lily with a sly grin.  
James groaned, thinking about the mischief that he and Sirius had been getting up to two years previously.   
Lily laughed and looked at her watch. “Think positive. It’s nearly eleven, so things should start winding down.”  
That was when James felt a spell rush past him, and he immediately went on the defensive.  
“Who’s there?” he asked staring down the dark corridor.  
Lily peered past James and whispered, “Hominum Revelio.”  
Two figures lit up down the hall.   
“Lumos,” said James, lighting his wand.  
He and Lily walked down the hall to where the two figures glowed, not trying to run. There in the darkness stood Severus Snape and Regulus Black.  
James glowered at the two of them, wondering what they had planned.  
“You two should be in your common room,” Lily said evenly, not looking at Snape.  
“What are you going to do about it, Mudblood?” asked Regulus.  
“Don’t say that to her,” growled James.  
“Unrequited love makes you unbearable, Potter,” snapped Snape.  
James ignored the comment.   
“Are you going back or do we have to get Professor Slughorn involved?” Lily asked.  
“Or I could hex you,” pointed out Snape.  
“Try it, Snivelly.”  
James had his wand in hand and looked ready to duel. Luck was on his side though, because just then Professor Slughorn happened along.  
“Ah, Severus and Regulus! Shouldn’t you two be in the common room by now? Well, never mind, I can walk you back that way! Thank you, James, for finding them both.”  
“Of course, Professor,” James replied as civilly as he could manage.  
James stood and watched as Slughorn walked away with the two Slytherin students hoping that he wasn’t in trouble with Lily. Slowly, he turned around, to see Lily there, arms crossed over her chest. Yup, he was in trouble.


	8. Chapter 8

Lily turned on her heel and walked off, leaving James to chase after her.  
“Lily, wait! What’s wrong?”  
“Don’t act like you don’t know James Potter,” she snarled at him. “You can’t go dueling students who make you mad.”  
“I never said I was going to duel with them. I just called his bluff.”  
Lily spun around and pointed her finger to his chest. “Obnoxious, arrogant prat!”  
Then she stormed off and James stood there, unsure of what to do next.  
Lily was right, of course. Snape got his temper up and he was angry. He’d have dueled Snape without a second thought and Lily knew it. James slumped against the wall where he was and stood there, fighting the urge to cry. Unfortunately, he had no other emotion to muster. He couldn’t be angry with Lily, not now. James did the only thing he could think of. He started to walk through the castle. He knew the castle well. He and Sirius had roamed through most of it in their six years here. His hand absently went to his hair, making it all stand up on end. He probably looked like a fright and he didn’t care.  
He had probably just ruined the best thing he had ever had. There was nothing else to do except find her and apologize. Though he was going to have to find her first. It was too late for her to go to the library. He doubted she’d gone back to the common room because then she’d have to see other people. That meant she was probably in the office.  
James took a shortcut down a flight of stairs and came out down the hall from the Head Boy and Girl’s office, which he almost ran down. He opted instead to walk quickly. He started to knock and then stopped. He could come in here if he wanted. He turned the knob and opened the door.  
At first, the office looked empty but then he glanced at the desk and saw Lily there working on her homework. She didn’t look up.  
James shut the door quietly behind him because he knew Lily heard him. He grabbed the chair next to her and sat down.  
“Lily,” James started slowly, “I’m sorry. You’re right. I let my anger get the better of me. I shouldn’t have threatened them.”  
Lily said nothing and James waited while trying to think of what else he could say. He was starting to get desperate though. After several minutes, he couldn’t take the silence anymore.  
“Lily, please talk to me.”  
She turned and looked at James and for the first time he saw she was crying.  
“Wha – why are you crying?”  
“Did you ever stop to consider that I was there? What if you got hurt?”  
James stared, trying to understand what she was saying.   
“I mean, I’ve never gotten hurt badly by Snape.”  
“That’s not the point, James. He could hurt you – “  
“He nearly did, or Regulus, while I had my back turned – “  
“Yes, but he didn’t. Fighting isn’t the solution James. You could have been hurt. What if you were killed?”  
James sat and stared at the floor trying to work out what Lily was thinking. James knew he and Snape were at least evenly matched if Snape played fair. Which he rarely did and then there was Regulus who James knew could duel because of his family.   
“Lily, I wanted to protect you.”  
“I can take care of myself,” she snapped at him.  
James could feel his frustration growing. He was furious with the two Slytherins for ruining his night and Lily was being difficult now.  
James stood up. “Fine. I’ll go then. Just know that the world I grew up in, a man protects the people he loves, even when they’re capable of doing it themselves.”  
He turned to the door to go back to his room.  
“What did you just say?” Lily’s voice had changed.  
“Men take care of their families in my world.”  
Lily stared at James. “No, you said men protect the people they love.” She trailed off.  
James hesitated. Did she really not know how he felt about her? He turned back toward her and looked at her face. Her eyes were full of confusion, like she wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly and needed him to confirm what he said.  
“Lily, I – I love you. Don’t you know that?”  
She continued to stare at him.  
“I’m not just here for the snogging, you know,” James said, unsure what else to say.  
With that, Lily threw herself into James’ arms and started to cry again. James wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him. After several moments, she used a corner of her robe to wipe her face. James had an overwhelming urge to kiss her but decided he should wait. Instead he took her hand and pulled her over to a small couch that they used for prefect meetings and sat down with her.  
“I didn’t know,” she finally said.  
“Lil, I’ve never been with any girls for this long, ever. What did you think I was doing?”  
“I was avoiding thinking about it. You never said that I was anything special so I didn’t want to start thinking I was anything important.”  
“You are the only girl I have asked out that many times. But if you need to hear it, I love you. And I’ll protect you, whether you like it or not. I’ll apologize for starting crap with Snape because you are right about that – “  
James was interrupted by Lily kissing him and his brain gave up on any further logical thought. For the first time since they had gone to Hogsmeade together, James felt himself getting lost in her kiss. She was the only thing that he could feel. He pulled her closer to him and let himself get lost in the magic between them.  
Two hours later, the two snuck back into the Gryffindor common room. It was empty inside and James looked at the clock to see it was three in the morning.   
“I’m glad tomorrow is Sunday,” James whispered as he kissed the spot just under Lily’s ear.  
Lily sighed at him.  
“Good night Lils,” James murmured into her hair.  
“Sleep well James,” Lily answered him quietly.  
He watched as she quietly climbed the stairs to her dorm room. James took a deep breath before slowly heading up the stairs to his own bed, thinking about how much longer it would probably be before he could actually sleep. He quietly opened the door to be met with the sounds of his friends snogging and Peter was nowhere to be seen.   
“Oh, come on guys,” James muttered.  
“Welcome home, Mr. three am,” came Sirius’s voice from behind the curtains on Remus’ bed. Remus pushed the curtain aside.  
“Yeah, where have you been?”  
“It’s a long story,” James replied sitting on his bed.  
Sirius sat up and stared at his friend. “Oh my gosh, you guys did it!”   
“No, we did not,” James replied, giving Sirius a look at the same time telling him to shut up now.  
Remus hit Sirius in the shoulder.  
“What, I just thought – “ Sirius shrugged.  
“Don’t,” James said again. “Where’s Peter?”  
“We sent him to look for you,” said Remus. “We were kind of worried.”  
James arched an eyebrow as he looked at Remus, who had the presence of mind to blush.  
“I was keeping him from worrying,” Sirius said quickly.  
“Well, I was apologizing for a fight. Oh, and Snape and Regulus tried to attack me in the hallway, but no big deal.”  
Sirius leapt off of Remus’ bed. “Regulus did what?!”  
“It’s fine,” James told him.   
“Like hell,” shouted Sirius angrily. “I’ll hex him myself.”  
“Remus grabbed Sirius’ arm. “Hey, calm down.”  
Sirius turned and looked at Remus. “No way. My brother doesn’t get to attack my mates!”  
“It was probably Snape and Regulus was guilty by association,” pointed out Remus.   
Sirius snarled.  
“Either way, it’s over,” James said again. “Slughorn took them back to their common room.”  
“And they get detention?” asked Sirius.  
“I don’t actually know. I couldn’t prove they had attacked me because there was no damage, so I didn’t tell him.”  
Sirius and Remus looked at James aghast.  
“To be fair,” James continued, “I was a little distracted by Lily.”  
James decided not to tell them about everything that transpired between him and Lily. Instead he sighed and picked up his pajamas before walking into the bathroom. He needed a shower and some time to himself.  
James slept until eleven that morning and still felt like crap. Peter was still snoring in his bed but both Remus and Sirius were gone. James rubbed his face and stared at the top of his bed wondering if Lily was awake. He rolled over to look for his glasses and noticed a small letter sitting on his side table. Grabbing his glasses, he rolled over and grabbed the parchment. Written in Lily’s neat handwriting it said James, I’m going to the greenhouses to work on an Herbology assignment. I’ll be there all afternoon, if you want to meet me there. Love, Lily. James grinned. He sat up and decided that he was definitely working on Herbology today.


	9. Chapter 9

James got dressed and headed to the Great Hall. He had missed breakfast and was starving, so he needed to eat something. Quidditch practices made him even hungrier and there had been a lot of those recently as well. Remus sat alone in the Great Hall, poking at a plate of food but looking very thoughtful. James headed over and sat down next to him.  
"Morning," Remus mumbled.  
"Hey. Are you alright?" James was concerned by the tone Remus had.  
Remus shrugged and continued to stare at his plate.  
"Where's Sirius?" James asked carefully. He was somewhat concerned that this look was related to his best mate.  
Remus shrugged again and James stared at his food trying to figure out what to do. He wanted to meet Lily in the greenhouses however, right now Remus looked like he needed a friend badly.  
"You want to go outside and just talk?" James finally asked.  
"What about Lily?"   
James took a deep breath. "I feel like you need me more right now," he finally said. "Lily will understand."  
Remus glanced up at his friend and looked truly grateful. "I appreciate that James but I'll be ok. Honest."  
James watched Remus for a moment before looking back at his plate.   
"Look, we've had a bit of a fight but you don't want to be in the middle of this one."  
"Does it have anything to do with a certain Slytherin?"  
"Yes." Remus' answer was clipped and cold.  
James shook his head and took a couple bites of his food before finally speaking. "I feel like this is going to go bad places."  
With those words, Professor McGonagall swept into the Great Hall and looked around. James knew who she was looking for and his hunch was confirmed a moment later.  
"Mr. Potter, where were you this morning?"  
"I've just gotten up Professor. I came straight here after getting dressed."  
"I see. And what do you know about Mr. Black's current plan."  
"Plan?" James was genuinely perplexed and Professor McGonagall must have realized it.  
"Very well." She turned and left the Hall as quickly as she entered.  
James looked a Remus who shrugged.  
"Did you fight this morning?" James finally asked.  
Remus nodded. "He got up and said he was going to deal with his brother. I told him to let it go but you know him. He told me to stop being a prat and start being cool again. And then he stormed out of the common room."  
James sighed.  
"Listen," Remus said, "go meet Lily. At least one of us should have something good going for him."  
James grinned. "We'll be in the greenhouses working on Herbology."  
"Uh huh. Sure." Remus grinned at James who blushed.  
James stood up and headed down to the greenhouses.

Greenhouse ten was as far out as the students could get. Because of where it was, very few students ever went down there and the greenhouse was for students in NEWT level Herbology only. James opened the door and looked around to see where Lily was working. It took him a moment because her red hair was causing her to blend in with a large plant. Lily had her head down as she worked on labeling the plant in front of her. James could see the neat drawing in her notebook.  
"I believe that you requested some help with your Herbology homework."  
Lily snorted but didn't look up.  
"Well, obviously, you need my expert opinion on something."  
Lily finally looked up and grinned at him. "Hardly, Potter."  
James could hear the teasing in her voice and he smiled.  
He sat down next to her, opening his notes to the same plant. Lily looked over at the page before looking up at him.  
"Wait, you did that?"   
"Uh, yes."  
"James, that's finished. And quite good."  
"Geez, don't sound so surprised Lily."  
"No, I just..." she trailed off. "I guess I didn't realize that you did take your work kind of seriously."  
James picked up a quill on the desk and played with it for a moment.  
"James, is all your work this good?"  
James shrugged. "Mostly. Potions is kind of a... struggle sometimes."  
"You're really smart."  
"Don't sound so surprised. Just because I goof off with Sirius doesn't mean I'm stupid."  
"I never said that you were stupid."  
James looked at her.  
Lily at least had the presence of mind to look guilty.   
"Well, not to your face. Remus always told me that I shouldn't say that."  
James looked back down at the quill he was playing with and shrugged.  
"Did you figure it out first?"  
"Figure what out?"  
Lily looked around the greenhouse before whispering, "The Animagus spell."  
James' eyes went wide.  
"Remus told me last year."  
"Not on my own," James admitted. "Remus had to help."  
Lily stared at him for a moment, struggling to reconcile the James in her head and the man in front of her.  
"James, I'm sorry."  
"For what?"  
"Assuming so much about you. I always thought that you were just a prat who had a lot of money. I never saw you study until fourth year. I just figured you didn't care about school. I guess it was easy for you."  
James shrugged.  
In truth, school had never been really difficult. First year had been an adjustment because he was trying to channel his magic through his wand but after that, things got easier. As he sat there, he realized that Lily hadn't spoken for several moments. He looked up to see her watching him.  
The look on her face made his heart swell. He was so in love with this woman. For the past three years, James had been known as the guy who had a new girl every month. Since the beginning of this year, he had been with Lily and he was starting to realize that she was all he wanted.  
Lily closed her notebook and pushed it across the table. James reached over and took her hand. They sat like that for several moments before Lily leaned over and kissed James.  
The sun was setting as they returned to the school.


End file.
